by Marisa BrownA founding member of Luscious Jackson, Jill Cunniff was born and raised in New York City, where she met future bandmates Kate Schellenbach and Gabby Glaser at the punk clubs where they used to hang out. She taught herself how to play the guitar at age 14, and was playing in basement punk bands by the following year, including with future members of the Beastie Boys (who ended up releasing Luscious Jackson's albums on their Grand Royal label). After attending college in San Francisco, Cunniff returned to New York in 1991 and began writing songs with Glaser. Soon Schellenbach and Vivian Trimble joined, and Luscious Jackson were born. After four full-length records, as well as one with the Kostars (comprised of her and Trimble), the band decided to call it quits in 2000. Cunniff stayed busy by working on pop projects like the neo-disco outfit Cooler Kids, as well as continuing to write her own material. In the summer of 2006 she was signed to The Militia Group, which released her solo debut, the dancey, Brazilian pop-inspired City Beach, in early 2007.